Flawless
by Zilver Wings
Summary: He wrote the bestselling romance novels. She was an innocent fan girl who went to work for him. He brought her into his world,one of richness and dark human nature. But she was willing to pay the price. In her eyes,he was perfect even with his many flaws.
1. Prologue

Flawless

By Zilver Wings

----

Summary: He wrote the best-selling romance novels. She was an innocent fan girl who went to work for him. He brought her into his world of richness and high social status, but also the dark undertone of human nature. But she was willing to pay the consequences. In her eyes, he was perfect even with his many flaws, because she loved him.

----

Chapter 1 

Prologue

She stood quietly at the front, not really listening to the soft murmurs of the person in front of her.

Her auburn bangs covered her large emerald eyes, once alive and spirited with innocence, now grew duller with age.

He was the one to bring her into his world. A world she never knew existed. On the outside, it was all glamour and colorful. But the ugly truth could not be hidden forever. Just like him, as he slowly shed in front of her. But she chose to overlook all of his imperfects back then.

Love is said to be a child, for in choice he is so oft beguiled.

She was a young innocent girl back then who wanted nothing more than to be near her idol. And he was so suave and romantic. He represented every girl's perfect soul mate.

But she didn't regret being with him. He taught her many things in life, and the most precious one was love.

"_You are the most beautiful woman I have ever met, and you are mine, my cherry blossom." _

She removed one hand from the bouquet she was holding to touch the small piece of jewelry on her ear.

It was the first present he gave her so many years ago.

----

"Tomoyo-chan, I can't believe that they actually hired me to work for him!"

The auburn gave a sigh as she lied back onto her comfortable bed. Today was truly a dream come true.

She had just graduated from Tokyo University, and was merely an inexperienced girl who majored in English Literature. She didn't even think she stood a chance when she went to an interview to one of the most well-established and popular publishing company, 'Soulers'.

She simply wrote the letter to stop the bugging of her best friend. Who would have guessed two months later, she would become an assistant to her favorite author?

Her best friend grinned at her.

"I'm glad Sakura-chan, Hiirigizawa is a very good suspense author. He also seems to be quite pleasant, I'm sure you'll have a good time working with him."

The auburn immediately bolted upright from her bed.

"Who said anything about Hirrigizawa Eriol? I was talking about Li Syaoran."

Her friend's smile disappeared and a frown replaced itself.

"You are not talking about the same Li Syaoran, the one who writes romance do you?"

When she saw her nod, she groaned.

"Haven't you heard, Sakura-chan? He has a reputation for being a playboy. In fact, he was just in all of the magazine covers yesterday for making out with a sixteen year old schoolgirl, and he is ten years older than her!"

The girl looked indifferent.

"Who cares about his love affair? I'm just being there to work for him. It's not as if he'll look at me as anything more than an assistant. He's so handsome and perfect, and I'm just a plain Jane."

The raven stared at her friend with a mixture of concern and shock.

"Sakura-chan, you, you don't really like him do you?"

The girl looked down.

"It doesn't matter. To see his face everyday is enough for me. I must sleep early tonight to prepare for tomorrow. After all, it's my first day. Good night, Tomoyo-chan."

"Good night."

Somehow, the raven had a bad feeling about this new job. Perhaps it was just a small crush, and would pass away. She sure hoped so.

Her friend was a great believer in love, and her fragile spirits would be broken if her first romance didn't work out.

----

"Breathe Sakura, calm down."

The birds were chirping as the sun slowly rose from its hiding place for another day.

An auburn girl stayed rooted on the doorstep as she stared at the house in front of her in awe.

She was wearing a simple white fitting blouse and a knee-length pink skirt with high heels.

If she was just visiting a friend, her attire was far too formal, but who would just go into someone's house and work? Apparently, that was what she was about to do.

The house was like those you usually see on television. Although not big enough to be considered as a mansion, it was still very impressive for a house that only lived one single person.

There were three stories, with study black tiles as the roof and creamy white walls. There were also a lot of large windows with certain carvings on them, which were all closed with royal red curtains. In the front, there was a fairly large garden on both sides of the path that led you to the front door.

It was the address the 'Soulers' had give to him. It was supposed to be the famous Li Syaoran's house. However, for someone as fashionable and rich as him, why would he choose to live in the countryside, and not some apartment in the busiest parts of Tokyo?

Her fingers had just touched the doorbell on the side, hesitating, when the door suddenly swung open to reveal a lean man.

The girl's breath stopped short. She couldn't believe that she was actually seeing her idol in real life, up close.

Fashionably disheveled chocolate hair, intense amber eyes, flawless handsome face, the crystal sword pendent on his neck, the tall and lean body, the casual but expensive clothing…

She gulped.

Li Syaoran. There was no doubt why he was a lady's man.

"Ohayo, I'm Li Syaoran, and I guess you must be Kinomoto Sakura."

His voice was deep and husky. She nodded slowly as her face reddened.

He smirked at her tenseness. His calculating eyes surveyed her body, and he nodded in satisfaction before he opened the door wider. He knew he had made the correct choice when he saw her picture in her profile.

"Why don't you come in?"

----

The memories she had once tried to throw away still stay imprinted in her mind, as clear as day, and she was glad.

She felt her head being lifted upward as the person planted a kiss on her lips.

She smiled.

To be continued…

----

I'm trying to adopt a new writing style, one different from my previous stories. Don't you dare laugh at my pitiful attempt!

I know this chapter is vague, but that's exactly what I'm trying to do. The chapters will be around 2000 words, unlike this one, since it is only a prologue.

Hope you liked it, and please R&R, I'm not really confident about this story.


	2. Flawless

Flawless

By Zilver Wings

----

Summary: He wrote the best-selling romance novels. She was an innocent fan girl who went to work for him. He brought her into his world of richness and high social status, but also the dark undertone of human nature. But she was willing to pay the consequences. In her eyes, he was perfect even with his many flaws, because she loved him.

----

_Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind, and therefore is winged cupid painted blind._

Chapter 2 

Flawless

His gaze wandered around her figure in apprehension.

She was slim and petite, with slender legs and a creamy complexion. Her looks were also striking, especially her memorizing jade eyes, which happened to be his favorite color.

"Uh, Li-san, I"

"Call me Syaoran." He cut in smoothly without missing a beat.

"H..hai." If possible, Sakura's face heated up even more as she stuttered nervously, purposely avoiding his gaze as she looked around. The interior design of the house was even more intriguing than the outside.

Landscape paintings and graffiti were hung everywhere, not to mention the different statues and antiques, which must have caused a fortune. It was a strange combination of the modern and old civilization, but somehow, they matched perfectly with the rest of the house.

Syaoran led her into the living room and motioned her to sit down.

"So," he sat down next to her, too close for comfort, but she was too scared to move.

"I read all the application letters, and yours was the most satisfying one." Including your physical appearance, he added to himself mentally.

"Anyway, as my personal assistant, you'll have to come here every morning at eight. Casual clothing is fine. Your job is to help me proof read my work, edit it, supply me with ideas, doing research, scheduling my timetable for me…"

He drowned on and on, but Sakura could hear none of it.

When Syaoran heard no reaction from her, he turned to find her gawking at him. He grinned to himself. No girl could ever resist him.

He put his hand casually over hers to catch her attention, and slowly leaned in when her eyes was back in focus.

"Like what you see?" His strong aroma of cologne and his seas of amber hypnotized her.

Still smirking, Syaoran leaned in further and placed his mouth near her ears.

"The day's still young, we should get back to work."

Flushing, Sakura quickly darted away from him.

Out from nowhere, he produced a thick stack of papers and dumped it onto the coffee table carelessly.

"This is the manuscript to my new novel, 'Flawless'. I want you to edit them as soon as possible since I'm going to publish it by the end of this year."

Sakura gaped at the sheets in astonishment.

"Did you write this all this year, in six month's time?"

He shrugged indifferently.

"Yeah."

He heard her murmur a small wow.

"Follow me." He picked up the papers and stood up, handing Sakura her purse, which still sat next to him. She followed him upstairs.

He opened the door to the first room in sight and Sakura couldn't help but gasp.

It was large and luxurious, at least twice the size of the living room in her house. The walls and carpet were a light shade of pink. There was a large metal table with two computers on it. There was also a sofa and a small LCD television set standing directly in front of it. In the far corner, there was a huge, empty bookcase.

"This room will serve as your office from now on. If you have any problems, my room is just next to yours."

His professional voice startled her, but then, he winked at her before handing the manuscript to her and closed the door softly behind her, leaving her to her own.

Sakura giggled. Today, luck was certainly on her side.

First, her office was very lovely, and she also got her dream job. Of course, one must never forget that she had just seen her idol, probably the most sought after bachelor in Japan. He was such a gentleman, and maybe a bit of a flirt, but that only added to his charm.

She walked to the chair and sat down. Placing the manuscript on the table, she glanced at the landscape outside the large glass windows happily before starting to read the papers carefully, anxious to make the novel turn out perfect, just like his previous ones.

Hours flew by. Sakura was still absorbed in her work, her pencil taping the wooden table thoughtfully when a sudden gust of wind blew past her ears, making her bangs rise.

Alarmed, Sakura looked up to see Syaoran bending over her desk to examine her work. Sakura stopped and gave it to him nervously.

Their hands only brushed across each other for a millisecond, nonetheless, it made Sakura's heart flip.

She watched as he skimmed through the fifty pages she had finished editing, his eyes widening with each turn of the page.

"You're fast and really sensitive to grammar."

He tore his gaze from the manuscript and beamed at her.

"I'm glad my instincts were right when I chose you. After all, it's not everyday you can come across a woman who is both talented and beautiful."

Sakura turned to look at the forgotten pencil on her desk, hoping that her bangs would hide her flaming cheeks. Blushing was something she was doing so often in the past few hours.

When she was felt her face cool down, she looked up to see her boss holding out his hand.

"It's getting late, care to join me for lunch?"

He couldn't resist a grin when he saw her hesitate. She was just like an open book.

"Calm down, Sakura, I won't take advantage on you now. I don't take my playboy tactics to work."

Sakura made no reply, but slipped her hand into his outstretched ones. He gently lifted her up from her seat.

When she passed by him, he whispered into her ear.

"But I never promised I wouldn't make a move on you when I'm not working."

Sakura stiffened, but continued to walk.

'He's just fooling around, he must be. I'm not even up to his standards to begin with.'

----

Sakura sweat dropped as she entered 'Rooftop Philosopher' with her boss, who was grinning from ear to ear.

Who would have ever thought that the great Li Syaoran was actually a big fan of Peanuts?! (A/N: o-o I absolutely adore Peanuts!)

The outside of the restaurant looked pretty ridiculous, it was resembled a doghouse with Snoopy lying on top of it. On the first view, she would have surely mistaken it for a kindergarten.

Other than the rows and rows of Peanuts figures, books and videos lined on the shelves, the restaurant looked quite elegant inside.

The restaurant had a pleasant fragrance from the scented candles and vases of cherry blossoms on the tables.

The two chose a table in the secluded area of the restaurant, it faced the windows, giving them a spectacular view of the city.

They quickly ordered their meals since they were starving. Sakura had roasted barbequed ribs with spaghetti and hot chocolate, and turkey with stuffing, rice and iced cappuccino for Syaoran.

A suffocating silence followed. Then, Syaoran decided to break the ice, just as always.

"So, Sakura, what do you think of my novel?"

Sakura thought for a moment.

"It is good, but I think that you have the problem with your male protagonist."

"Nani?" Syaoran scooted closer to the table, genuinely interested.

"Uhh, your characters are too perfect, the dream boy of every girl. I mean," she eyed him for a second. "not every man is as perfect as you are, everyone must have their faults."

His eyes were downcast when she said those words.

"But I'm not perfect, no one is. In fact, once you know me, you'll realize what a terrible person I am."

Sakura stared at him, speechless.

Sensing her discomfort, he quickly changed the topic.

"If so, this title can no longer be used then…"

"Of course not!" Sakura said it out a bit more forcefully than she had intended to. "According to Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream, 'love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind, and therefore is winged cupid painted blind.' He can be a gangster and still be flawless in her eyes."

Syaoran was silent, but instead, scrutinized her face closely, making her squirm in discomfort.

Luckily, two plates of steaming food suddenly appeared in front of them, breaking his intense gaze.

Sakura's heart flipped.

She should have known better than to open her big mouth. Authors were usually very sensitive, and didn't like others to criticize their work.

She absentmindedly twisted a forkful of spaghetti and stuffed it into her mouth gloomily, even though she had already lost her appetite.

She was deep in thought of how she would find a new job when her thoughts were interrupted.

"You know that you're amazing, right?"

She dropped her fork in surprise.

"Really! No wonder you graduated with honours."

He chuckled as he picked up her fork that held strings of spaghetti and put it in front of her mouth.

"Open up."

She opened her mouth obediently without using her brain. Her head was still in cloud nine until she felt something in her mouth.

She blushed scarlet red when she realized what he had just done, and he chuckled even more, seeing her reaction.

"You're so kawaii."

To be continued…

----

Sorry, this chapter might be a disappointment for you guys, but I'm still thinking of the plot, how to make it darker? The first few chapters will be light and fast-paced, I'll start with the serious stuff later. Thank you for your reviews and encouragement, it has helped me to write this chapter more quickly.


	3. The Article

Flawless

By Zilver Wings

----

Summary: He wrote the best-selling romance novels. She was an innocent fan girl who went to work for him. He brought her into his world of richness and high social status, but also the dark undertone of human nature. But she was willing to pay the consequences. In her eyes, he was perfect even with his many flaws, because she loved him.

----

Chapter 3

The Article

"Xiao Lang! Is this the reason you dumped me, for her?"

A beautiful woman suddenly appeared out of nowhere and glared at Sakura as she pointed a finger at her distastefully, her other hand resting on the table, her hand bag dangling violently on her hand due to her actions.

Sensing his secretary's discomfort, he quickly discarded the fork and stood up. Taking the woman's hand, he whispered a soft gomen to Sakura before leading her outside.

Sakura watched the couple carefully from the glass doors. She couldn't make out what they were talking about due to the distance, but judging the way the woman looked, Syaoran must have said something really intimidating because the woman's expression changed from anger to shock in a matter of seconds.

Syaoran then walked away from her and back to the table he was previously sitting comfortably on and smiled calmly at Sakura as if nothing had happened all this time. Sakura watched the woman out of the corner of her eye, and saw her glare at Syaoran before stalking away.

Sakura raised her eyebrows at him, causing him to chuckle.

"Okay, I bet you're wondering who that is. She's of no importance, just a small company's daughter, spoiled brat. It's just a fling, nothing more."

Sakura's eyes bulged out for a millisecond, but she quickly composed herself although her insides were shaking with emotion. So it was true, he was a playboy. She never did really believe that until now. But still, how could he look so serene after dumping a girl, did he have no shame at all? She also wondered what he said was so effective to shut the girl up.

She gave an involuntary shiver.

The soft smile on Syaoran's face disappeared when he saw her quiver.

"Are you okay?" He asked, looking genuinely concerned.

"H…hai."

"Okay, since we're both finished, I guess I'll pay the bill."

His naïve secretary only nodded timidly.

Resisting the urge to smirk, Syaoran asked for the bill. He had a very good idea why his secretary was trembling. In his world, good acting skills were essential to the first step of being successful, and being indifferent in any situation was the second rule.

After paying, Syaoran stood up gracefully and went behind Sakura to pull her chair for her to stand up. Taking her coat in his hands, he gently slipped it over her arms and his arms went around her waist in a hugging motion for a fleeting moment before pulling them away. To the others, this was an act of affection. But Sakura knew better. He was just teasing her.

She forced herself to stay calm and not give him the satisfaction of seeing her blush like a high school girl around him. That seemed to have work, for the amused twinkle in Syaoran's eyes had disappeared.

Both didn't notice a pair of calculative closed eyes following their every move ever since they first stepped foot inside the restaurant. The person sat in a secluded spot, his face safely hidden in the shadows, but he stared at the back of the two in vengeance. How he managed to look with closed eyes remained as a mystery. (A/n: I couldn't resist adding this part, it is so humorous.)

"Li Xiao Lang, one day, I assure you, will use that woman you are with, and bring you down with me."

----

Sakura dropped by Tomoyo's house after her first day of work since her best friend had insisted her to inform her with every single detail.

"Sakura-chan, how was your first day?"

This was the first question Tomoyo bombarded her with as she tiredly flung her handbag on a nearby chair and sunk into the sofa.

"Tiring… I want to sleep now."

"Oh no you don't."

Tomoyo hovered over her and proceeded to shake her violently on the shoulders until Sakura finally propped herself upright in annoyance.

"Okay, fine, fine. Li proved to a playboy, and I'm disappointed, my idolization of him is officially over, okay? But I'm still going to work for him because I love reading his books and editing it for him. I don't understand why you're so pessimistic about him, it's not as if he'll rape me or anything."

Somehow, that didn't sound right.

Tomoyo observed her friendly closely before collapsing into the sofa next to Sakura.

"It's not just that," her voice began to fade. "he's dangerous and not someone to be messed with."

Sakura looked at her friend strangely.

"What did you say?"

Tomoyo gave a small smile to Sakura before shaking her head to indicate that it was of no importance.

Sakura shrugged and suddenly bounced up from the sofa and announced brightly,

"Okay, let's bake a cake today to celebrate my first day of work!"

Tomoyo's sad smile disappeared and stars appeared in her eyes.

"In that case, Sakura-chan, you must wear my new outfit for you, it's super kawaii, with frills all over and"

Sakura sighed. Some things just never change.

----

Sakura gritted her teeth as the phone rang for the millionth time that day.

She had started working for Li Syaoran a month ago, and although she had to admit she loved her job, sometimes, the non-ceasing phone calls would almost drive to her to brink of insanity. The ringing itself was not really that annoying, it was the people on the other line that drove her crazy.

All were girls with shrill voices who addressed themselves as Li Syaoran's girlfriends or even fiancées. Each time Sakura had to follow the directions of her boss, which was to tell them politely that they called the wrong number and no one with the name they wanted lived there. Most of them would hang up, but some would just yell at her until Sakura got fed up and hang the phone herself.

Sakura bit her lip and tried to ignore the ringing and concentrate on her work. Apparently, the person on the other line was very persistent, for the phone continued to ring.

Sakura finally gave up and moved one hand from the keyboard to the receiver.

"Moshi, moshi. Gomenasai, demo"

"Where is Xiao Lang, and who are you?"

A calm voice cut in coolly. Sakura pulled the receiver from her ear and stared at it bizarrely before putting it back to her face.

"Xiao Lang?"

"Yes, or known as Li Syaoran in Japan. I am his mother."

Sakura's eyes widened until they were as large as saucers. Her boss must have gave his mother the wrong telephone number. There were two lines in the house; one in her room to fend of his 'girlfriends', and the other one used all over the house for business.

"Oh, I am his assistant, Kinomoto Sakura. Please wait for a moment."

Sakura put the receiver down and rose up from her seat. Her face burned as she recalled what she had almost said to the woman.

She knocked when she reached the half-opened door of Syaoran's study but heard no reply.

Cautiously, she opened the door wider to access and saw that the room was indeed empty. Since it was the first time she had entered his room, her eyes surveyed around. His room was similar to hers, except that the scenery was even more breathtaking than hers. It showed the huge park nearby and also an amusement park. Sakura was so awed that she couldn't help but walk closer to observe it.

However, something caught her eye as soon as she reached the desk. Barely visible beneath all the stacks of papers was a newspaper article from a few weeks ago.

There was nothing special about the date of the article. Instead, it was the heading that caught her attention. She turned her head to have a better look.

"The infamous Li Syaoran brings down the young Takashi from the Yamazaki family." Sakura murmured. Suddenly, she regretted for never bothering to waste her time reading the newspapers. She had just laid a finger on the article when the door suddenly flung open and a gust of wind blew past her ear.

Sakura's heart skipped a beat and she quickly let her hands fall to her side. She closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths to compose herself before turning around to face Syaoran calmly.

"Why are you here?"

Syaoran smiled lightly at her as he walked closer to her. Sakura forced herself not to swallow and look straight into his gleaming eyes. If Sakura had just started working, she would have believed it to be a genuine smile. But after a month of observing him, she knew that he was a man who always had an intention behind his actions, everything was just an act to him.

"Oh. I just received a call from your mother in my room, which is supposed to be reserved for your numerous girlfriends." She said in a playful tone even though her insides were shaking.

His eyes lingered on her face for any trace of doubt.

"Really? I guess I must have mistaken it then. Arigatou."

The gleam disappeared from his eyes and he dashed out of his room to answer the call.

Sakura let out a sigh of relief and slowly followed Syaoran back to her room just to hear him say sayonara.

Syaoran jumped off the desk when he saw Sakura.

"There's going to be a banquet next week held by Hiirigizawa Eriol to celebrate the publishing of his new series. Since you are the only decent female I know, you will be my companion to the banquet. If you want, I would be more than happy to shop with you for a beautiful gown to accent your nice figure." He winked at her suggestively.

But Sakura was already in another world. In her mind, she could already picture Tomoyo strangling her to death when she announces to her that she decided to buy an evening gown from a shop instead of letting her make one.

Syaoran sweat dropped as he saw the swirl of emotions changing on Sakura's face from amusement to resentment and then finally defeat.

"Sakura?"

Sakura broke out of her reverie and stared at her boss.

"Uhh, I'll get one myself thank you."

Syaoran nodded and walked past her.

Sakura was still rooted on her spot a long time after Syaoran left.

"He addressed me by my first name." She whispered to herself softly.

Sometimes, denial just doesn't help to stop something, perhaps, just perhaps, she should listen to her heart for once.

To be continued…

Great, I've just gotten another inspiration for this story, so I'm just going to discard my previous one. Sorry for not updating, but I've been busy with other stuff. Things will get more exciting after this. Also, please take note of Sakura's gradual change of character in this story. Again, I'm not going to proof read this story because it's really late and I have school tomorrow, so please excuse me for my poor grammar.

Please continue to R&R, I'm so happy, I finally got over 200 reviews for "Love Without Words" D.

HappyTofu- Exquisite writing, gee, thanks. I'll try my best to make this story different from my other ones.

Kero- Hoho, I love the start of my story, kind of mysterious and doesn't give out much information. I admit the lack of reviews are depressing me, but I'll try to ignore this and continue on. _"Anywho love the fic tremendously. Review when you can Onegai!!"_, thank you so much!

Kumiko Imaidegawa- Don't make it darker? It's not even dark now!

love it- Sakura's not retelling the story, it's just a story jumping forwards and backwards.

Kiiriya- Very cliché indeed, _"if this chap is a disappointment then I would love to see wha tone that isn't looks like cause this chapter was 'flawless'"_, but I love it, lol.

Sapphire Serenity- Don't worry, she's going to be less of a fan girl later on. Well, this chapter is longer, hope you're satisfied with it, and my story is simple and isn't loaded with detail is because I'm not experienced enough. P


	4. The Banquet

Flawless

Flawless

By Zilver Wings

--

Summary: He wrote the best-selling romance novels. She was an innocent fan girl who went to work for him. He brought her into his world of richness and high social status, but also the dark undertone of human nature. But she was willing to pay the consequences. In her eyes, he was perfect even with his many flaws, because she loved him.

--

Chapter 4

The Banquet

"Hai, wakarimashita. Sayonara."

Sakura hung up the phone and saw a shadow on the carpet in front of her desk.

After a month of working, it didn't take a genius to figure out it was only her boss, Li Syaoran. He had entered her room again unannounced. It seemed to be a routine for him to stop by her room every time he left his for the kitchen or whatever activities he had on his mind. At first, Sakura felt freaked out to find him always leaning against the doorframe, staring at her. But after a few days, she had gotten used to it, although she still thought this form of checking on her work was rather strange.

"Li-san, the designer just called to say that he has gotten the layout of the book finished, and has also drawn a few drafts for the cover of the book. I'll go and get it now."

Sakura stood up and got her coat when she heard a faint, "Wait a second."

Sakura turned her head to see Syaoran smirking slightly at her.

"I think, my dear assistant, you have forgotten that tonight is the day of Hirrigizawa's banquet and I have permitted you to leave at one clock to get ready since the banquet will start at five."

Something clicked in Sakura's mind.

"_Sakura-chan, you're going to a banquet this Saturday! I must design a super kawaii dress for you! Arrive at my house latest by two o'clock that day to get ready. Don't be late!"_

She could almost hear the squeal from her best friend.

Syaoran's smirk widened when he saw the grimace on Sakura's face. His assistant was really professional when at work, and rarely missed out anything. But when it came to things regarding her own self, she was forgetful to the point of ridiculous.

"I'll pick you up at five-thirty. I already know where you will be since you gave me your friend's address already. Try to look your best. I'm sure you'll look even more stunning with make-up on."

He grinned at her and strolled out of her room.

Sakura rolled her eyes at his words. A month ago, she would be blushing after hearing his words, but now, she only felt a pang of annoyance. He really should stop flirting around with every female in sight.

She picked up her handbag that was on the sofa and left.

He was a charming man, she thought as she boarded the bus. However, he was so mysterious. He was a really fun and talkative person to be with, but when she was with him, it seemed to be him who was always asking the questions, but never the other way around. Whenever she started to talk about her family, he would quickly change the topic, as if he didn't want to hear her talk about it.

During this month, her fantasies of him had begun to fade for some reason. He was handsome and fun, yes, but he wasn't the person she thought he was, although she still couldn't place her finger on the reason.

Perhaps, this itself was the problem. Nobody could possibly be perfect, could they? She thought she had overlooked his imperfections because she was a fan of his, but she was sure she had abandoned this thought for the past week, and yet, she still couldn't find any flaw in him. Was he hiding them? Sometimes, Sakura felt that the boss she worked for wasn't the real him. Even when he was joking with her, she still felt this distance between them, as if he was not being sincere with her.

Was she just being oversensitive?

Without her realizing it, she had already arrived at Tomoyo's house.

She got off the bus and walked to her best friend's house and rung the doorbell, quickly bracing herself.

"SAKURA-CHAN! YOU'RE TEN MINUTES LATE, DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW LONG I SPENT ON YOUR ENSEMBLE! YOU HAVE TO TURN OUT PERFECT!"

Tomoyo bellowed as she ran down the steps of her mansion.

Sakura winced, she had expected an overreacting Tomoyo, but not quite this loud.

Tomoyo rambled on as she dragged Sakura into the dressing room, which, unfortunately, took some time as the place was huge.

"You know, I started drafting the minute you left after telling me about the banquet. After all, it's Hiirigizawa's. He's one of my favorite authors! You know, I usually like to design pink outfits for you because it's your favorite color and it looks cute. But this time, I used a different color for a change because it's a formal event and you're not exactly a VIP there, so you don't want to stand out too much. Plus, the color really makes your kawaii eyes stand out. I know you like to wear flats and sneakers, but since…"

Sakura groaned when she reached the room. She, unlike most of her sex, was never really interested in clothes, and didn't see how others would dress not for warmth and comfort, but for fashion. Therefore, when facing her cousin in this state, whose dream was to become a well-known fashion designer one day, was absolute torture for her. Who cares what her gown's color is? And she always hated formal events because she had to wear feet-killing heels, which not only hurt her leg, but always make her look really clumsy. She probably only wore heels thrice in her life. Twice for school events, and once when she first met Syaoran.

She had been in this dressing room for million of times already, helping Tomoyo model for her clothes. But until this day, she still never got comfortable with it. Sakura surveyed the room and quickly found it differ from the normal one she saw.

Unlike the other days, there was only one single piece of cerulean blue clothing hanging limply on one of the pole-like hangers out of a hundred others sticking out from the wall. There was also a pair of black shoes on the ground. Kitten heels, Sakura noted, much to her relief.

"Change into them quickly, we still have your hair and make-up to do. Oh, there's so much to do and yet so little time."

Tomoyo pulled down the curtains and pressed the lock of the door down before exiting.

Sakura took the gown down from the hanger and quickly slipped it on. She zipped up the zipper on the side and put on the heels before taking a look at herself at the full-length mirror near the door.

Even as one who didn't care about fashion, she knew she looked good. The knee-length satin gown fit her perfectly. It was a bit body-hugging at the top, showing off her curves slightly, making her look sensational. The gown was quite conservative, with thick black straps that hung on her creamy shoulders. It hardly showed any cleavage, and there was only a small dip on the back.

The gown, to Sakura's surprise, had no special design except for the thick black band that wrapped around the dress just below the chest, and also the tightening of the gown at the bottom, creating a balloon-like effect. The style of the gown was very unTomoyo-like, since Sakura was used to wearing designs with ribbons and frills.

Sakura put the shoes on, which were very comfortable, and unlocked the door and let in a hyper Tomoyo.

"Wah, kirei!" Tomoyo exclaimed. Sakura raised an eyebrow. She was more used to the 'kawaii' one.

Tomoyo led Sakura to the dressing table and forced her down on the seat.

"Okay, time for some make-up."

About three hours later, a white limo was parked on the street just outside the Daidouji mansion, and a man by the name of Li Syaoran was sitting on the sofa in the living room of the mansion, tapping his fingers impatiently on a cushion. He never understood what took women so long to get dressed.

"Sumimasen, I'm ready now."

'Finally.' Syaoran thought, rolling his eyes. He turned his head to the staircase and felt his breath hitch at his throat when he saw his assistant.

Sakura's hair was pulled up in a messy bun with a few curled strands left out. There was a thin silver chain with two rings interlocking with each other as the pendant. She also had on light make-up, which enhanced her beauty. The dress, albeit not green, did help to put emphasis on the color of her emerald eyes.

He always thought she was pretty, but this evening, she was, simply breathtaking. It was a refreshing change from the usual heavily made-up girls he went out with.

He himself had on a gray suit with a white shirt underneath, and also a pink tie.

He was dashing, Sakura thought. But their outfits didn't match each other's. Not even a bit.

"Are you ready, milady?" Syaoran joked. Sakura nodded, took her black purse and wrapped a white shawl around her arms before leaving with him.

Tomoyo looked at the pair from a window upstairs, frowning slightly.

'Sakura-chan, be careful. He is more than what he seems.'

--

Sakura and Syaoran got off the limo and entered the tall building. The venue was on the fourth floor, and they took the lift with a few other people, who were all attending the banquet as well as only the button with the number 4 was pressed. Sakura wondered what kind of people were invited to the banquet.

Syaoran leaned against the metal wall of the lift, looking relaxed, but Sakura could sense that something was wrong. She saw people stealing glances at her and Syaoran with a strange glint, almost as if they were hostile of them. But she was sure she never met them before.

Sakura let all the people in the lift get off first before whispering softly to Syaoran, "Why did all those people look at us like that?"

Syaoran looked right into her eyes, his own ones hard. "As long as you're with me tonight, you'll be going to meet more of them. Just ignore them." Then he paused, and added in thoughtfully. "Perhaps, you will get to know more about me tonight, shattering the immaculate image you have of me."

He grinned and gave her a little push, signaling her to walk faster.

Sakura felt confused. Was she just being paranoid? And was he joking?

She soon got her answer.

He was right. Sakura focused all her attention on the guests inside the hall. As soon they signed their names and entered the hall, she felt some heads turn and look at them with contempt.

She felt even more puzzled. Wasn't Syaoran a celebrated author? Why did they seem to despise him? Suddenly she regretted not searching for information about her boss beforehand.

Sakura sighed as she walked next to Syaoran, ready to be ignored for the whole night.

Unexpectedly, just after walking a few steps, some people whom Sakura recognized as 'looking at them with contempt' before were smiling and walking up to them, and soon engaged themselves in a conversation with Syaoran.

Syaoran must have sensed her confusion, because he leaned into her slightly and murmured into her ear in a flippant tone. "This spectacular view you're currently seeing is called reality. Watch and learn. You'll need it in some stage of your life."

Sakura felt a giggle about to erupt, and quickly excused herself and walked away. But even though it sounded funny from Syaoran, she still felt a small chill running through her back. What a terrible world her boss was in. She hoped she would never be a part of it. Ever since she was small, she was protected by her family. The small town of Tomoeda in which she grew up in was full of friendly people, and free from evil. At least that was how it was in her opinion. This side of 'reality' was something unheard of to her.

After leaving Syaoran's side, she felt more relaxed, and it was then did she have time to take a good look at the hall. It was quite large, and even with the relatively large amount of people, it didn't look crowded. The dinner was in the form of a buffet, with food in different metal plates on a few tables on one side, and drinks on the other side. Unlike the dinners she usually had, there were no tables or chairs, but only some sofas, which were mostly empty as people stood and ate while chatting. There was also a small orchestra in the right corner, playing classical music.

On the whole, it was nice. The only problem was that she didn't know anybody. Luckily, she didn't have to worry about this for long because people came to talk to her. A lot of them, she realized, were authors and publishers. At first, it felt nice to talk to someone new. But after a while, she felt something strange about them. Whenever she touched on the topic about their future work, especially the authors, they would quickly change the topic and then gradually distance themselves away from her.

'What do they think I am going to do, report to my boss and let him copy their work? What calculating people."

She walked to the buffet table and realized how hungry she actually was. She had forgotten lunch due to her preparation for the evening.

She was just filling up her plate with a salad when a smooth voice came from behind her.

"Care to dance?"

Sakura turned around and saw Syaoran's face close to hers, one of his arms extended out to her.

To be continued…

--

Another long wait. It took me a lot of patience and determination to finish this chapter. It's always like this: I have all the plots and stuff all laid out and then it keeps on rerunning in my mind until I can almost memorize the details, and so, I don't write it.

I had to reread this story again and, alas! Mistakes, mistakes, and more mistakes! I'm going to correct them soon, hopefully. But then again, I always seem to be giving out empty promises. XP

Well anyway, I know it has been a long time, but please, please review. Your comments are really what drive me to write. I had thought of putting a stop to updating stories on fanfic a bit earlier, but then, I didn't want to give up so easily.

I guess it'll take some time for me to update this story, but perhaps not cause I don't want to reread my other stories again to continue writing :P.


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